Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai will fly to the Ukraine capital of Kiev on Saturday to ensure an investigating team gets safe access to the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The United States believes the plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile fired from rebel-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board were killed.

"We will want to ensure a safe corridor to the site," Mr Liow told reporters. "We sent a team to Kiev yesterday night. I will be leaving for Kiev tonight to ensure we have access to the site."

Defence Minister and former Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, the public face of the government during the crisis over the missing MH370 airliner in March, said the main priority was to ensure security and that any debris was not tampered with.

"We want to get to the bottom of this," he added, saying international cooperation was needed and that Malaysia had been in touch with officials in Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Britain and China.

"We do not have a position until the facts have been verified, whether the plane was really brought down, how it was brought down, who brought it down."

"I lost my daughter and her family in a blink of an eye," the New Straits Times quoted her as saying from her home in the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island.

Malaysian Airlines flight attendant Sanjid Singh was not scheduled to be working on board the doomed Flight MH17, but had swapped with a colleague - just months after his wife, also an attendant, had swapped her shift to avoid Flight MH370.

The contrasting twists of fate make up just one of hundreds of poignant stories triggering a nationwide outpouring of grief in Malaysia where many are finding it difficult to grasp the twin disasters befalling their country and national airline.

Government under pressure

Malaysia is still grappling with the trauma of the March 8 disappearance of MH370 with 239 passengers and crew aboard, including 38 Malaysians.

No trace of the MH370 plane has been found, a mystery that has severely damaged Malaysia's image abroad and left furious passengers' relatives deeply anguished and demanding answers.

The Malaysian government is likely to come under further pressure after saying on Friday that the flight path over Ukraine had been declared safe by the U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) which, it said, had since closed the route.

The ICAO later said it did not have the power to open or close routes and that individual nations were responsible for advising on potential hazards.

International air lanes had been open in the area, though only above 32,000 feet.

The Malaysia plane was flying 1,000 feet higher, at the instruction of Ukrainian air traffic control, although the airline had asked to fly at 35,000 feet.

Malaysia Airlines said it was waiving fees for changing or cancelling tickets for a few days "in light of the MH17 incident".

"Passengers who wish to postpone or cancel their travel plans can obtain a refund, including for non-refundable tickets," it said.

The waivers only apply until Thursday for travel until the end of the year.

Demand for answers

Meanwhile, China's President Xi Jinping has joined calls for a fair and objective investigation into the downing of the plane, China's official government website said on Saturday.

The investigation should find out the truth as soon as possible, the website reported Mr Xi as saying.

The U.N. Security Council has also called for a "full, thorough and independent international investigation" into the downing of the plane and "appropriate accountability" for those responsible.